Perth has welcomed more than 400 tourism leaders from across the country as part of the 2017 Australian Tourism Export Council (ATEC) Meeting Place, which starts today.

Thanks to support from the State Government, through Tourism Western Australia, and the local ATEC WA Branch, Perth won the bid to host the tourism export industry event earlier this year. It is only the second time the event has ever been staged outside Sydney since its inception in 1972.

Running from November 20 to 22, the event will feature more than 3,500 business-to-business workshops with buyers representing Australia's key international markets, discussions on issues and opportunities impacting growth of the industry and networking events.

In addition, familiarisation trips across the State to places such as Margaret River, Denmark, Kalgoorlie, Rottnest Island, Broome, Exmouth and Monkey Mia will showcase WA's extraordinary destinations and tourism product to about 68 buyers.

A number of Aboriginal businesses will also have an opportunity to pitch their products to travel distributors, promoting the State's authentic Aboriginal tourism experiences.